Ramble On: I just want my radio to be consistent, that's all

An open letter to those responsible for programming at WANS 1280 AM in Anderson:

I am not a complaining sort of person. If I am in a restaurant and the food that comes to me is, well, bad, I will suffer through and make a mental note of what I disliked about my visit there. I don't send anything back and I don't make a scene for the rest of the restaurant to gawk at.

If I get a drink that tastes like the soda is flat, I will, again, suffer through and drink that beverage. Then, if I order another, I ask them politely to check their soda and see if anything is off.

Some call it getting walked all over. I call it having manners and practicing what I preach.

But I won't go on in silence with regard to the programming at radio station WANS 1280 in Anderson any longer. Something must be said.

When WANS first came on the air, I was excited beyond belief. Finally, the Anderson area was going to have a radio station that would broadcast ESPN Radio's lineup of pretty stellar programs. For months, I got Mike and Mike in the Morning each day from 6 to 10 a.m. Then, starting at 10 a.m., The Herd with Colin Cowherd took me through lunch. Later in the afternoon, it was the Scott Van Pelt Show and some other randomness throughout the day.

For a national sports lover like myself, it was great.

Then, the inevitable happened. I guess sports programming wasn't paying the bills for WANS and they shifted their schedule. Mike and Mike is still on from 6 to 10 a.m., but now the 10 a.m. slot is filled with conservative radio host Neal Bortz followed by finance expert Clark Howard and then something else conservative called the Schnitt Show.

I can accept this. After all, I am sure conservative radio — while pretty prevalent around here — is more popular than sports in this market. And I still had Mike and Mike and weekend ESPN radio programming for Saturday and Sunday.

But now it seems WANS is trying to take that from me too.

While listening to Mike and Mike, it seems the top of the hour news break interrupts the Mike and Mike show. Now I have to listen to religious radio news instead of finding out about the national sports scene. And that's only if the show actually comes in. More often than not, Mike and Mike is replaced with dead air.

And those same news breaks come on weekends as well as weekdays. While listening to predictions of the South Carolina/Alabama game, just when they were going to start the predicts, WANS interrupted with their top-of-the-hour news.

The point to this rant is not to tell you your business, WANS. I just want some clarity. Are you a sports station, a conservative talk station or a religious news station? Please, make up your mind because I want to know if I should listen anymore.